The Guardia Civil have said that a patera with five occupants, one of them a child, has arrived at dawn this Tuesday on the Pinomar beach in Guardamar del Segura.

The small boat was subsequently found empty on the beach at 7.20 am, containing six life jackets and a bag containing personal effects that could belong to a woman.

One of the occupants of the patera, a small boy, turned up during the morning in a petrol station in soaking wet clothes. Agents of the Civil Guard transferred him to receive medical attention.

Shortly afterwards four other occupants of the boat were found, two men and two women, who seem to be from Algeria. All are now receiving medical attention from the Red Cross in Torrevieja.